Digimon: Shadowed Pains
by Staray
Summary: Five children find themselves in the digital world with their own digimon partners. Unknown to them, a great evil is coming, shadowing the digital world once again. -May change title and rating later on- (hiatus)
1. Chapter 1: A New Beginning

This is my first ever fanfic so I hope you like it! :3

Digimon is owned and created by Bandai, Toei and Disney/Saban. I do not own it in any way.

**Digimon: Shadowed Pains**

**Chapter 1: A New Beginning**

It was a hot summer's day. School had ended for the holiday and kids were getting ready for their vacation. The sun was shining brightly and there wasn't a single cloud in the sky. Somewhere in the nearby woods was a summer camp that many children went to. A young teenage girl with black straight hair was sitting on a nearby hill, her bright blue eyes looking over the camp. She was wearing a red shirt with a rainbow butterfly and plain blue jeans. In her hair, she wore a red and white polka dot headband. She could see all the log cabins and the burnt out campfire which was going to be lit later that night. The laughter of the other children filled the air as she watched them play and run around.

"Shizuka!" called a familiar voice. Shizuka jumped in surprise and quickly turned around to see who it was and saw her older brother's face, beaming at her. He had brown spiky hair, green eyes and was wearing a black sports top and black tracksuit bottoms.

Shizuka smiled. "Ryuu. What are you doing here?" she asked him. He walked over to her and sat beside her, a serious look on his face.

"I need to talk to your about your 'little' issue," he replied. "The other camp leaders are already worried".

"You know I can't do that!" she exclaimed. "You of all people should know!" Ryuu simply sighed and stood up, facing away from his sister.

"I'm just doing this to protect you," he said simply.

"I don't need protecting," she snapped and with that she turned around to face the camp again. Ryuu started to walk away but then he stopped.

"Don't let it haunt your life for ever" he said simply and then he walked away, back down the hill and towards the camp. Shizuka simply closed her eyes, remembering those terrible memories and cried, letting the tears fall down her cheeks.

* * *

><p>It was night time at the camp. The smell of burnt food filled the air and marshmallow packets and burnt sticks littered the area around the campfire. Most of the other children were asleep apart from Shizuka, Ryuu and three other children. There was a boy with light brown hair and hazel eyes who was wearing a purple top and blue jeans. He was chatting away with a girl with blonde hair and green eyes who was wearing a yellow top and a long skirt. There was also a small boy with black hair and blue eyes who seemed to be fiddling with his mobile phone. He was wearing a blue top with neat brown trousers. Shizuka looked at them, embarrassed, trying to hide herself behind her hands. Ryuu noticed this and decided to take action to make his little sister feel better.<p>

"Hello," he said cheerfully. The three other children stopped what they were doing and looked at him.

Ryuu smiled. "I'm Ryuu," he stated. The girl with blonde hair smiled back at him.

"Hi Ryuu. I'm Minori," she replied. The boy next to her sighed.

"If you introduced yourself to them I might as well do to,' he said in a bored voice. "I'm Katashi".

Ryuu smiled at them both. "Nice to meet you, Minori and Katashi," He turned his head around to the boy with the mobile phone. "What's your name?" he asked. The boy looked at them with panicky eyes.

"I'm Manabu and umm... is there any connection here?' he said.

"No there isn't. Why would there be all the way out here?" exclaimed Katashi. Suddenly Manabu got out his mobile phone again and started taking it apart. The others sweat dropped. Minori turned around to face Shizuka who was now burying her head in her hands.

"What about you? What's your name?" she asked. Shizuka slowly looked upwards with fear in her eyes. She opened her mouth to say something, thinking of her words carefully, and decided it would be better if she said nothing so she closed her mouth. Ryuu gave her a sympathetic look while the others looked confused.

"I'm sorry. She always acts like this around people she doesn't know too well," Ryuu explained and he placed his arm around her, comforting her."Her name is Shizuka" Suddenly there was a huge bang and flash of light appeared in the sky for just a second that if someone had blinked, they would have missed it. The five children looked at the sky in surprise.

"What was that?" exclaimed Katashi, looking at the sky.

"No idea," replied Minori with equal shock and then without warning five bright lights appeared in the sky. They slowly drifted towards each other to make a circle. All the children could do was look in awe as suddenly the five lights fell down towards them. Shizuka, who already had been frightened, was very terrified at the five lights coming towards them. They made contact with the ground and that was the last thing she saw as the bright light engulfed them.

* * *

><p>When Shizuka awoke, she felt her body ache all over. Once her eyes had adjusted to the sudden change of scenery, she gasped about what she saw. She seemed to be in a forest with old oaks and willows surrounding her. There was grass everywhere with colourful flowers sprouting from the ground. There were a variety of different sounds and smells she didn't recognize. She also realized there was a huge shadow looming over her and she saw in front of her was a gigantic tree, bearing fruit of all shapes and colours. Shizuka desperately looked around for her big brother but he was nowhere to be found so she fell onto her knees and cried.<p>

"Ryuu!" she cried. "Where are you?" Her head in her hands, she let everything out. Then all of a sudden she felt a soft tap on her shoulder. Shizuka quickly turned around and saw a very peculiar sight. Right before her eyes was a pink and blue rabbit. It had four big ears and a turf of pink and blue fur was sticking out of its head. On its chest were light pink ribbon and a metal medallion with a moon on it and on some spots on its body were shapes of the yellow crescent moon. Shizuka quickly backed away from the strange creature, wanting to be with her brother again. The strange creature weakly smiled and it put its hand up and waved to her. Shizuka looked at it, confused and after a long moment of silence, she did the same.

The creature smiled again but much more strong than before. "Hello human. I'm Lunamon and I am your partner," it said proudly. The teenage girl just looked at it, jaw wide open. Lunamon saw her fear and surprise and decided to try to calm her down.

"I guess that you are hungry," Lunamon said. Shizuka stared for a moment, not knowing what to say, until her stomach started to rumble. She blushed with embarrassment while Lunamon went up to the big tree and started to climb it. Shizuka was amazed at her grace and agility and finally Lunamon reached the top. The rabbit picked the one that was the most plum and colourful and then she jumped back down in front of Shizuka. She eyed the fruit suspiciously but Lunamon then took a big bite out of it. From what it looked like, it tasted good so Shizuka took a small bite and chewed. It was one of the sweetest fruits she had ever tasted and before she knew it, it was all gone. Lunamon smiled at her and she smiled back. For some reason Shizuka had a feeling, a feeling that she could trust Lunamon as much as her brother, maybe even more so. She decided that she wasn't going to find her brother by just siting there. She had to ask.

"Where are the others?" she asked nervously, her voice coming out as a whisper. "And who exactly are you?"

"Firstly, I'm called a digital monster, digimon for short." Lunamon replied. "As for your friends, they may be around here somewhere." Shizuka quickly stood up and then started to walk deeper into the forest, hoping to find another human being. She heard footsteps and turned around to see Lunamon following her.

Shizuka frowned. "Why are you following me? We only just met," she said.

Lunamon smiled. "Because your digidestined," Lunamon replied and Shizuka looked at her in surprise. "You have a digivice". The digimon pointed to a small black and white device that was clipped onto her shirt. Shizuka hadn't even noticed nor known how it even got there. She unclipped it and took a closer look at it. It was coloured white and had three black buttons with a small screen in the middle. She pressed a random button and suddenly five dots appeared on the screen, white, red, blue, green and purple. She assumed she was the white dot, due to the white digivice.

"These must represent the others!" Shizuka exclaimed in excitement and she quickly ran towards the closest dot, green, with Lunamon following close behind her. After what seemed to be hours of running though the forest, they both heard a terrible scream. Shizuka and her digmon quickly ran deeper in the forest and found themselves in a small opening and they saw Minori backing away in fear from another digimon. It looked like a big flower and the top of its body was pink and the bottom green. It also had a yellow sapling on its head. Minori turned around and saw Shiuzka.

"Finally! Another human being!" she said with relief but when she saw Lunamon standing next to her, all of her relief drained away.

"It's another one of those...things!" she exclaimed, pointing at Lunamon with a trembling finger as if she was a dangerous virus. The plant creature just rolled its eyes.

"I keep telling you this. I'm Lalamon and I'm a digimon," it explained.

"Yes. I'm Lunamon, Shizuka's partner," said Lunamon. Minori looked at the her, a confused look on her face. The two digimon sighed.

"We will explain it to you, like I did to Shizuka," Lunamon replied and so they explained everything to Minori from digimon to the digivices. Minori looked at her digivice, it was bright green and was also displaying coloured dots.

"What are these dots for?" she asked. Shizuka pulled out her own white digivice and put it next to hers. In the middle of the screen was a white and green dot and three other dots were in the surrounding area. Minori realized that the dots represented them and their digivices.

Minori held her digivice up to the sky proudly. "Lets go find the others!" Shizuka smiled at her shyly.

* * *

><p>Without them knowing, three shadowed figures watch them, observing their every move from the high tree tops.<p>

"Hope has un-seen potential," said the smallest figure with excitement.

The biggest figure sighed with boredom. "I don't really see what's so special about them,"

"We will test them to see what power they possess" replied the medium figure.

The biggest figure smiled evilly. "Finally, some action!"


	2. Chapter 2: Reasonable Explanation

**Digimon: Shadowed Pains**

**Chapter 2: Reasonable Explanation**

_"Its time for you to experience true pain and suffering!" the voice cackled, pointing at my three childhood friends who were all a step away from death._

_He was excited, so excited. I wanted to kill him for what he was doing to my friends. but I couldn't believe he was enjoying it..._

_What I was feeling was indescribable..._

_He clicked his horrible fingers of his and my friends all took a dreaded foot forward. I screamed their names in desperation but they didn't respond, their faces_

_were blank and free of all emotion._

_Then they fell..._

* * *

><p>Shizuka opened her eyes, freeing herself of her terrible nightmare. She looked around her surroundings and remembered what had happened yesterday. She,<p>

Minori and their partners had made a temporary camp at the base of the huge oak tree. They had collected leaves and sticks to make small leaf beds they

could sleep in for the night. Shizuka had no trouble helping with Lunamon but Minori was still wary of her partner, even though they had explained it all to them.

They had been sent here to the digital world to rescue it from the evil digimon and their leader Mephistomon. The two guardian digimon of the digital

world, Darcmon and Piddomon, would help them on their quest along the way. Shizuka sat up and looked towards her right, where Lunamon appeared to be sleeping

in her own leaf bed. Directly under the huge tree was Minori with her partner Lalamon next to her. They were both sleeping peacefully so she chose not to wake them

up just yet. Shizuka stood up from her warm bed and decided to at least get some fruit for breakfast. She started to climb up the tree and realized that it wasn't as easy as

it looked, however she was determined to grab some fruit. She climbed up higher and reached out to grab a fruit when she suddenly felt her grip loosen and she began to fall.

She tried to hold onto the tree, reaching out to hold a branch when she started the fall of the tree altogether. She fell faster and faster and before she knew it, she was very

close to the ground. She closed her eyes and braced herself for impact .

"**Lop-ear Ripple**!"

A vortex of bubbles surrounded Shizuka and slowly descended her to the ground. She opened her eyes and looked at the person who had helped her. It was Lunamon with a huge

smile on her face.

Shizuka smiled shyly. "Thank you," she said.

Lunamon shook her head. "No need. That's what us partners are for," she replied. A groan broke the silence. They both looked for its source and saw Minori and Lalamon sitting up

and rubbing their eyes.

"Morning!" Shizuka said cheerfully to them.

Minori looked towards her and smiled. "Morning," she replied in an equally cheerful voice.

"Why did you make so much noise?" yelled Lalamon, irritated for being woken up so early. Minori slowly turned around, only just realizing that Lalamon was right next to her.

She quickly stood up and screamed at the digimon, pointing her finger at her.

"What are you sleeping next to me?" she screamed in horror.

Lalamon simply rolled her eyes. "Because, I'm your partner and I'm meant to protect you," the digimon said in a bored voice.

"I don't care! I want you away from me!" she yelled in response.

Lalamon smirked. "If I went away, what would you do if you were attacked by an evil digimon?" she asked.

"I would ask Shiuzka for help and anyway, if your my partner, you would do as I say," Minori pointed out.

"Just because I'm your partner, doesn't mean you can order me around!" Lalamon snapped.

"Then what's the point of being my partner then?" she shouted. Shizuka and Lunamon, who were watching the whole argument, sweatdropped.

"Should we leave them alone?" Lunamon asked.

"I guess," replied Shizuka.

Lunamon waved at the angry duo. "We are going find the others!" she shouted at them but they took no notice. Shizuka sighed and she and Lunamon walked away,

towards the deeper parts of the forest.

* * *

><p>Every now and then, Shizuka would take out her digivice to check where the others were and where Minori was. They decided to go to the closest dot,<p>

which was red. To pass the time, Shizuka decided to ask Lunamon some questions about the Digital World.

"You said earlier that we were chosen to help the Digital World," she said. Lunamon nodded.

"How were we chosen?" she asked.

"You children were chosen because of your connection to digimon," Lunamon replied.

"Connection?"

"Let me put it in a easier way so you will understand. All of you had a prior encounter with a digimon," she explained.

"An encounter?"

"Yes. It was needed for you to enter the Digital World for we have already chose you to be digidestined,"

"How did you choose us to be digidestined?"

"Because of your special qualities that make you who you are,"

"What kind of qualities?"

"I can't say what they are yet. You need to work it out yourselves,"

Shizuka suddenly stopped walking as if realizing something. "You said we had all encountered a digimon before coming here, were they good or evil digimon?" she asked, her voice shaking slightly.

Lunamon looked towards the floor as if it was the most important thing in the world. "Both," the digimon said sadly. Before Shiuzka could question Lunamon further, a loud scream interrupted her, followed by a menacing roar.

Shiuzka's eyes widened in horror. "That was Minori!" She quickly pulled out her digivice and looked at the screen, finding the location of the green dot and started heading

towards it with Lunamon close behind.

* * *

><p>After a few minutes, they were back at the tree with Minori missing. The camp was wrecked, everything was ripped to shreds. Shizuka was looking worried while Lunamon was looking around for any clues or footprints.<p>

"What do you think could have happened?" Shiuzka asked, concerned.

"They were probably attacked by a evil digimon," Lunamon concluded, pointing at a pair of huge footprints which were too big to be Minori's or Lalamon's. Shiuzka continued to look even more worried, then an idea struck her.

"I could just use my digivice to find her!" she exclaimed.

Lunamon nodded. "Try it," She quickly takes it out and looks at the screen. Her eyes widen and her hands shake.

Lunamon looked at her concerned. "What wrong?" she asked.

"The dots...everyone...they're all gone!" she replied with tears in her eyes.


	3. Chapter 3: New Friendships

**Digimon: Shadowed Pains**

**Chapter 3: New Friendships**

_~ A Day Earlier ~_

_Ryuu_

Ryuu opened his eyes, disorientated from the bright lights. After a while, his eyes adjusted and he looked around in panic, looking for his precious sister but he could see no sign of her, or anyone else for that matter. He then looked at his surroundings to see where he was. There were trees everywhere, of all sizes, and he saw the occasional colourful flower which he had never seen before. What caught his attention was a certain huge tree which he could see high above the others. He decided he might as well head for there, at least he could climb it and look around.

"Hello, hello, hello, hello!" squealed a excited voice.

Ryuu looked around in surprise. He was sure he had heard a voice, but no one was around.

"Down here, silly!" the voice said again.

Then he realized and looked down at his chest. Upon him, was a strange blue dragon creature with red horns and red wings. Ryuu noticed it also had sharp teeth and claws which he hoped it wouldn't use. He was surprised by the creature but he had learned not to judge a book by its cover.

"Hello," Ryuu replied nervously.

The creature smiled broadly. "Hello, partner! I'm Dracomon" he said cheerfully.

Ryuu frowned. "Partner? And what kind of name is Dracomon?" he asked.

"Your my partner cos' you have that digivice!" he exclaimed happily and pointed at something he hadn't noticed before which was on his t-shirt. He plucked it off to take a closer look. It was coloured red and had three orange buttons with a small screen in the middle. Suddenly it started to beep and the screen came to life. On it, was some coloured dots, white, red, blue, green and purple and he realized that due to the red digivice, he was the red dot. He then put two and two together.

"If I'm the red dot, then that must mean that the other dots represent Shizuka and the others at the camp fire," he realized.

Dracomon nodded his head vigorously. "Let's go, go, go!" he said excitedly. Ryuu nodded in reply and they set off into the deeper parts of the forest, towards the huge tree which also happened to be where the white and green dot were. After, what seemed like hours, they started to make somewhere to sleep and Dracomon briefly explained about the Digital World and Digimon who inhabited it, although it was a little hard to understand with his childish voice. Ryuu was looking around the area for any sign of life with Dracomon when he suddenly froze.

"Are you okay?" Ryuu asked, concerned.

Dracomon turned to face him, a horrified expression on his face. "Evil digimon coming," he replied, his voice calm and not childish for once.

"Evil digimon?" Ryuu asked. Dracomon hadn't yet mentioned evil digimon in clear detail so he was a little worried.

Dracomon nodded slowly. "Run now, far away," he said eerily and he started to run, pulling Ryuu along with him. They ran as fast as they could, weaving in and out of trees to escape the danger. After a while of running aimlessy, Ryuu felt it. A horrible dark entity, sucking all the happiness and goodness from within him. He felt it get slowly worse and worse, finally realising how bad an evil digimon could be, a few seconds before his consciousness sliped away from him.

* * *

><p><em>Katashi<em>

Katashi opened his eyes slowly and rubbed them to see more clearly. He sat up slowly, something still slightly blinding his eyes, and looked around. There were beautiful trees all around and shinning blue lake in front of him. The sunlight was reflecting onto the lake and into Katashi's eyes, as if to wake him up. The silence was broken by a huge splash! A red fin was in the lake and was swimming through the water towards him. He stood up in shock and froze, waiting for the creature to get closer and closer, not knowing if this was a huge horrible joke or not. After a minute, the red fin was right at the edge of the lake, a few steps away from Katashi. Then it jumped right into his surprised arms. It was green all over with blue stripes near its red fin. It also had four legs and sharp teeth.

"Nice to meet you, friend," it said in a polite voice. Katashi just stood staring at it, jaw wide open.

The creature coughed and assumed that it should introduce itself. "My name is Betamon and I'm at your service, friend,"

Katashi blinked, restoring his composure. "What the heck are you and why are you calling me you friend?" he asked angrily.

"You are my friend becuase you have that," he explained, pointing at a strange device that had pinned itself onto his shirt. He took it off and had a closer look at it. It was coloured dark blue with aqua buttons and a screen in the middle. After a few seconds, it started to beep and the screen lit up. On it were some coloured dots, white, red, blue, green and purple.

"You are the blue dot and the others represent your friends," Betamon explained.

Katashi scowled. "They are not _all_ my friends," he replied, impatiently.

Betamon nodded. "Of course," Then they set off, north of the lake, towards the purple dot. Along the way, Betamon gave a basic explanation of Digital World and the Digimon. However, after what seemed like hours, they found they were lost.

"How can we be lost when this is leading me right towards everyone else?" Takashi moaned while leaning next to a tree. Betamon was standing patiently next to him, awating his next command, when he tensed up.

Katashi looked at him, confused. "Hey, what are you doing?" he asked, slightly annoyed.

Betamon looked at him. "There is an evil Digimon approaching. We must get away," he said, simply. Then he ran off, further into the forest despite Katashi's protests. After only a few seconds, Betamon heard a loud thump and turned around quickly. Katashi, was lying on the floor with a big towering figure behind him. Betamon could only stare in horror before he fell to the same fate as his friend.

* * *

><p><em>Manabu<em>

Manabu woke up in a shock like he had been electrocuted. His eyes darted from side to side in panic as he took in his surroundings. There were trees surrounding him, their leaves glistening in the sunlight like crystals. However, what got his most attention was what was in front of him. It looked like to be the ruins of a stone building. Upon closer inspection, on one of the walls there was a faint drawing. As Manabu got closer, he realized it the drawing was a picture of fire, with strange looking devices surrounding it. He tried to examine them further but a unknown voice interrupted him.

"What ya doin?"

Manabu jumped with surprise and looked at the top of wall, to where the strange voice was coming. On it, was what looked like to be a small chicken with a half broken shell on its body and a sword on its back.

Manabu stared at in shock. "A talking chicken...?" he said faintly.

The creature sighed and jumped down in front of him. "I'm Hyokomon, a digimon, and you are?" he asked.

"Manabu...," Manabu replied, slowly.

"Nice to meet ya, partner!" Hyokomon exclaimed.

"Partner? What are you talking about?" Manabu demanded.

"That digivice there means your my partner," Hyokomon said, pointing at a device that was strapped to his trouser pocket. Manabu took it off and looked at it closely. It was coloured purple and had three violet buttons with a small screen in the middle.

"What is this thing?" Manabu asked in wonder.

"Its a digivice. It has lots of features, if you know how to use it," Hyokomon repiled. Right on cue, the digivice started to beep and the screen light up. On it were 5 dots, white, red, blue, green and purple. It only took a few seconds for Manabu to realize that this was very much like a GPS system back home and that if had a digivice, the others must too.

"I need to find the others or there is no way of getting home," Manabu concluded.

"I say we go to that dot other there", Hyokomon said, pointing at the blue dot. Manbu nodded in agreement and they started to walk in the direction of the dot. As they walked, Hyokomon explained about the Digimon and the Digital World. When they decided to stop walking and have break, the digivice started beeping again. Manabu pulled it out and looked at it to see what was wrong. His eyes widened as he saw, one by one, the dots started to disappear of the screen completely until only the white and purple dot where left.

"Hyokomon..." Manabu said, uneasily.

The digimon turned to look at him. "What is it?" he asked, concerned. Manabu bent down and passed him the digivice. The digimon looked at the digivice, his eyes filled with dread.

"We gotta go, now!" Hyokomon said urgently. The digimon turned towards the the huge tree in the distance.

"Why? Where did the others go?" Manabu demanded.

The digimon shook his head. "There is no time for that now! We have to go to the transporter,"

Manabu gave him a puzzled look. "What are you talking about? We need to find the others!" he protested.

Hyokomon turned and looked at his partner, straight in the eyes. "You listen here. You are the only hope we have left for the Digital World's survival. Don't you dare go off and try to find them because you will fall to the same fate,"

"I can't just leave them!"

"We need to get out of Generations first and get help from the Union," Hyokomon explained.

"Generations...Union?" asked Manabu, puzzled.

Hyokomon shook his head. "This not the time for a history lesson! We need gotta get to the transporter," Manabu stayed silent for a few seconds, not knowing whether to leave the others or not. Finally, he came to a decision.

"Fine, I will do what you have said," he replied.

Hyokomon nodded in agrement. "Ok then, lets go!" The digimon started walking towards the the huge tree in the distance with Manabu right behind. However, no matter how long they travelled, they seemed to get no closer.

"Something doesn't feel right," Manabu thought out loud. Suddenly, Hyokomon froze, his body shaking slightly.

"What is it?" Manabu asked.

"A evil digimon," he said quietly. "We gotta go!" Hyokomon starts to run, desperate to get Manabu to safety. Manabu follows the digimon, wondering what a evil digimon even looks like, when something dark and horrible makes him stop. It was sucking everything he knew out of him, feelings, memories, his entire life.

Hyokomon, noticing that Manbu had stopped running, turns around. "Come on! We can't stop now!" His yells goes unnoticed as Manabu looks ahead, his eyes empty and cold.

"I'm surprised you haven't worked it out yet!" a new, unknown voice cackles.

"You!" Hyokomon said in fury.

"I guess you tried to get away, but you are no different than the other so called Peacekeepers," the voice replies. "But its time for you to go to sleep," At that moment. Hyokomon could feel his eyes droop and slowly close. He gathered up all his will and struggled to stay awake but the power was too strong. Hyokomon felt his body collapse and his eyes finally close.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry for taking so long to write the chapter. It took me a while to think on how to write it but I finally did it, so don't blame me if this chapter is quite dull. There will be more action in future chapters and maybe if the story goes well, I may rewrite it all so it looks better.<strong>


	4. Chapter 4: Warriors

**Sorry for the long wait, again. I had a lot of other stuff I had to do and I finally managed to get some free time to write this. Also, where are all the reviews? Am I doing something wrong or is my fanfic that bad? **

**Digimon: Shadowed Pains**

**Chapter 4: Warriors**

_Lunamon looked at her concerned. "What wrong?" she asked._

_"The dots...everyone...they're all gone!" Shizuka replied with tears in her_ eyes.

"That isn't possible!" Lunamon cried indigently as she quickly snatched the digivice from Shizuka's shaking hands to get a better look. Shizuka simply stood still, not acknowledging anything around her while tears flowed slowly down her cheeks. Lunamon's eyes darted side to side, taking in every detail of the device, while pressing the various buttons upon it. Shizuka broke the uneasy silence by collapsing onto the grass below on her knees, sobbing and muttering her brother's name in her hands. Lunamon abandoned what she was doing and rushed over to her broken partner to comfort her. She bent forward to put her hand on her back but Shizuka shook her off.

"It's going to be alright," Lunamon stated calmly. Shizuka lifted up her head and looked at Lunamon with her angry and watery eyes.

"How is it going to be alright?" she yelled. "I don't even know if my brother is even alive in this crazy place!"

"He is alive, I'm certain!" replied Lunamon, her voice rising. "But there are more important matters to tend to at the moment!" Shizuka stands up quickly, still staring at Lunamon with those terrible haunted eyes.

"Don't you dare say that my brother's not important!" she shouted, pointing a finger at the digimon. Irritation and anger crossed Lunamon face and she coughed as if to get Shizuka's attention.

"I didn't say he wasn't important. I said there was more important things to do, for example, saving my home." Lunamon said, anger slowly slipping into her voice. Shizuka features softened and she lowered her finger. Lunamon sighed in relief.

"How do you know my brother is alive?" Shizuka asked quietly, trying not to think about what Lunamon just said.

"Everything will be explained once we get to the other regions,"

"There are more places than this one?"

"Yes," Lunamon said shortly and turned toward the huge tree. "This is a transporter,"

Shizuka looked at the tree, quizzically. "Looks like a huge tree to me," Lunamon walked up to it and put her hand on the bark.

"Here, do see the indentation?" Shizuka at first couldn't see anything but the rough bark of the tree but after a while she noticed a small circle with various pictures surrounding it. One of them looked a lot like her digivice but she stayed quiet.

"Press your digivice against it," Lunamon said, passing it to her partner who looked at it uncertainly.

"Are you sure this will work?" she asked, nervously.

"Trust me," Lunamon replied softly. There was a few moments of silence and she nodded firmly, pressing the digivice on the bark. The effect was instantaneous. The digivice started to beep, slowly at first, then turning into a fast rhythm. It's high screeching bounced off the trees, increasing its volume further. The tree started to glow, a bright white hue, which stung Shiuzka's eyes. It grew brighter and brighter until Shizuka could feel her head throb in pain with the loud sound and the bright light. Then there was nothing, nothing at all but white light. The screeching turned quiet and transformed into silence. Shizuka felt her eyes slowly close and tried to blink to make them stay open. However, the pain in her head was too much for her and she finally closed them and submitted herself to the light.

* * *

><p>At the same moment Shizuka closed her eyes, Ryuu opened his. He vision was slightly blurry so he blinked a few times to clear it. He found himself in a small room, cell he realized afterwards, with dark grey walls and a dirty floor with which anything could have been living in the dark corners. There was a single circular window at the back and a strange metal doorway at the front. When he looked through it, he could see many other cells of the same design and size. As he was looking around he noticed we wasn't alone, Minroi, Katashi and Manabu were in here as well. They were all doing separate things, not interacting with anyone else. Minori was looking out the window, the wind lifting her hair in different directions, Katashi, leaning against wall with his arms folded and eyes closed, and Manabu was touching and prodding the metal frame, speaking under his breath. They all looked uneasy and scared, as if something terrible was going to happen.<p>

"Are you all okay?" Ryuu asked hesitantly. The others stopped what they were doing and looked towards him. Ryuu immediately regretted asking.

"That's what we should be asking you," Minori replied, slightly irritated. Ryuu shot a puzzled look at her and Katashi sighed.

"You were unconsciousness for a long time," he explained hastily.

"We had already woken up before you," Manabu continued.

Ryuu nodded, then it turned into a frown. "How did you all get here?"

"We were all attacked," Manabu said shortly.

"By evil digimon, apparently," Katashi scoffed. Minori turned on him angrily.

"What do you think happened then?" she asked.

"We were probably given something that makes us hallucinate," he said, with a firm tone. "Right now, we are imagining everything,"

"We are imagining the same thing at the same time then?" Ryuu pointed out. Katashi glared at him and the argument went no further. Ryuu decided to ask something that was bothering him for a while.

"Why didn't you escape?" he asked, indicating to the bare metal frame that Manabu was looking at earlier. Katashi smirked at him as if he was saying something stupid.

"See for yourself," he said mockingly. "Let's see how far that gets you," Ryuu glared at him and glanced at the others. They looked at him nervously but didn't say anything to stop him trying. Ryuu stepped forward, towards the metal frame and stopped. He took a deep breath and walked forwards. Except he couldn't. It was as if a wall was there, stopping his advances but when he looked, there was nothing there but an empty space.

"Told you," Katashi said, smugly. The others looked relived as if they thought something else would have happened.

"We tried to get out," Minori explained. "But it kept flinging us back like a forcefield,"

"I managed to change the settings," Manabu added proudly. "It doesn't hurt us anymore," That was why they looked nervous, Ryuu realized. They didn't know if it would work or not. Suddenly, a new voice interrupted their conversation.

"Oi, you humans. It's time for you to earn your keep!" Ryuu and the others turned around at the doorway and found themselves looking at another digimon. They hoped it was another one. It looked like a small green troll with red, spiky hair. It was wearing brown rags and was wielding a big club in his left hand. Its toenails were sharpened at a point, along with the ones on his hands. It made it look a lot more menacing.

"What do you mean by 'keep'?" Katashi demanded angrily. The troll smirked at him.

"I'm Goblinmon and you are my warriors," it said with relish. The humans looked at it, mouths wide open.

"Wha...what do you mean?" Manabu stuttered. "I can't fight!" Goblinmon raised its club and pointed it at them.

"I bought you all, fair and square, with my own Digicoins," it said. "You are now mine and I can make you do what I want!" Taking everyone by surprise, Goblinmon stretched forward with its other hand and grasped Minori's shoulder. It then proceeded to pull her through the metal doorway. The others rushed forward but Katashi was there first. He pulled and tugged Goblinmon's hand but it wouldn't break free so he tried to pull Minori herself back in the cell instead. Ryuu and Manabu helped his efforts while Minori was trying to pull the digimon's hand off. It looked like they were going to do it until Goblinmon tugged sharply and Minori was pulled through the doorway. Katashi tried to run after her but was stopped by the forcefield. He started to bang and hit on it angrily, as if that would make it go away. Ryuu and Manabu stood to the side, glaring at the digimon who took one of their own. Goblinmon, who still had its hand on Minori's shoulder, was laughing.

"That was funny, that was," it gloated. It walked away, escorting Minori from view. Katashi was still hitting the forcefield, while Ryuu and Manabu were still staring at where Minori was taken away.

A digimon had taken one of them but what everyone was worrying about was who was going to be next.


	5. Chapter 5: Revelations

**Here's the new chapter. I've decided to publish, at least, one chapter per month. Maybe two if I have the time. Hope you enjoy reading it!  
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**KumoFuzei: Thanks for the advice, though I don't really know to improve the dialogue_  
><em>**

**Digimon: Shadowed Pains**

**Chapter 5: ****Revelations**

_The screeching turned quiet and transformed into silence. Shizuka felt her eyes slowly close and tried to blink to make them stay open. However, the pain in her head was too much for her and she finally closed them and submitted herself to the light_**  
><strong>

_ It walked away, escorting Minori from view. Katashi was still hitting the forcefield, while Ryuu and Manabu were still staring at where Minori was taken away._

_A digimon had taken one of them but what everyone was worrying about was who was going to be next._

Minori let herself be lead by Goblinmon, her eyes darting side to side as she looked at the other digimon in the cells as she passed. Some looked at her in pity while others glared at her angrily as if this was all her fault. More Goblinmon were walking up and down, preventing anyone from escaping. _What am I going to do?!_ she thought hopelessly, _It's just like before. _She was pushed and pulled in different corridors and pathways, three lefts and one right she memorized quickly, until they reached a certain cell. She felt a glimmer of hope when she saw who was inside. There were a few digimon inside, none of which she had seen so far in the other cells. They were talking to each other calmly, like they were best friends. In the corner of the dark, dingy cell was the faint outline of Lalamon, whispering to the digimon with her. Goblinmon, with one hand on Minori's shoulder, pressed its hand on the invisible forcefield, making an opening and causing it to make a noise like broken glass. The digimon inside turned around, reacting to the noise. Minroi saw all their eyes widen while Lalamon was smiling with relief.

"Which one of you is this human's partner?" Goblinmon asked them with its gruff voice. "Come 'ere, whoever it is," Lalamon stood up and came forward without hesitation. _When was she so brave? _Minori asked herself as her partner walked through the doorway. Goblinmon quickly placed its hand back on the forcefield, seemingly restoring it. It then escorted them forwards upon a straight walkway with sunlight at the end of it. _With each step I take, I'm getting further and further away from Katashi. _Just before they were pushed outside in the light, Goblinmon called another digimon over from a small grey room to the left. It then walked inside the room, leaving Minori and Lalamon alone for a few precious seconds._  
><em>

"What are we going to do?" Minori whispered quietly. "Don't you have powers or something?"

"Oh, your asking _me_ for help now," Lalamon responded, smugly.

"You said you were my partner and partners look out for each other",

"I haven't seen you doing any 'looking',"

"Neither have I!"

Minori and Lalamon glared at each other for few seconds but it was interrupted by a firm hand on Minori's shoulder. Looking up, she stared at the digimon, smiling warmly at her. It had a small red body with its fur in the shape of fire. It had metal bands, of red, white and grey, on its arms and on its head. Actual fire was emanating from its tail and head, burning Minori's face slightly. Its blue, kind eyes were looking at her and its mouth was turned upwards into a smile. It's whole appearance shown it was a caring digimon but why was it here? Among all the imprisoned digimon in their cells and the mean digimon with clubs? All of this was whirling around Minori's mind, even before it had spoken a single word.

"And you are?" Lalamon said.

"Coronamon, if you must know," it replied, its smile fixed in place.

"Where are we?" Minori asked desperately.

Coronamon's smile turned into a frown, its eyes flickering between them. "You don't know?"

"I do," Lalamon said quickly, stopping Minori from speaking. "But-",

"Oi Coro!," the familar voice of Goblinmon called, interrupting their conversation. Coronamon flinched with annoyance and turned its head to face Goblinmon.

"Please don't c-,"

"Sit back down!" Coronamon hesitated for a second, then walked towards the room. Minori watched, pity welling up in her chest and couldn't help herself from calling out "I'm Minori and this is Lalamon!" Coronamon stopped, as if to say it heard, then continued on walking. Then she heard it whisper something, something that she wouldn't have heard if she wasn't expecting it.

"Humans and Digimon are more alike than you think,"

She was then pushed into the sunlight, away from the others with Coronamon's whisper still lingering in her ears.

* * *

><p>Shizuka opened her eyes slowly, griping the cold stone underneath her, feeling like she had just got run over by a truck. <em>Wait...? Stone? <em>She quickly stood up, eyes darting around her for Lunamon. She then grimaced as something in her pocket dug painfully into her side but before she could see what it was, something distracted her. She found Lunamon to her right, lying on her back, with eyes closed and chest moving up and down as she breathed in and out. Shizuka sighed in relief and stared downwards at the stone floor that had replaced the grass she had seen moments before. _I suppose it worked then. But where are we now?_ As far as she could see, they were in the middle of nowhere, on a random section of stone with nothing else. There wasn't even any trees, plants or any animals, or digimon she corrected herself, around the area. A noise interrupted her thoughts, a groan from Lunamon, as she slowly got her footing and stood up.

She smiled waerily to Shizuka. "I never get used to that,"

"Where are we?" Shizuka asked, indicating with arms. "There's nothing here,"

Lunamon blinked. "We are in..." She trailed off, as she took in what was around her. "Oh,"

"I think 'oh' is the right word for it too,"

"That's not what I meant. The seals were meant to be negated when we got here,"

"Seals?" Shizuka said, slightly irritated.

"They are set up by the digimon who protect this region. The seals change what you see, hear, smell and feel to something different,"

"I'm guessing it's not good that they are still here?"

"Yes, it's not good," Lunamon admitted. "But not hopeless," She added hastily when she saw Shizuka's worried face.

"So how do we get rid of the seal things?"

"I'm not sure, but I have a idea,"

"Which is?" Shizuka asked suspiciously.

"Your digivice. The seals should, at least, let us in if you use it,"

Shiuzka took it out and into her hand, after realizing it was in her pocket. She started at it for a second, dread filling her up. _How long have I been here? Are Mum and Dad looking us? Has anything bad happened to them? _She blinked, shaking all the bad thoughts from her mind.

"What do I do?" she asked, feeling silly as Lunamon directed her to a certain place.

"You simply press it in front of you," she said simply. Shizuka looked at her hesitantly and pressed the digivce against what seemed to be air. After a few seconds, the air seemed to shake and vibrate. Cracks formed, revealing something different behind them. Then it exploded, blowing warm air in Shizuka's face. When she opened her eyes again, what she saw amazed her.

"Welcome to the Union," Lunamon announced proudly. At first glance, you would think it was a normal human village. It had human-like houses and human-like paths. It even had a human-like castle at the north, high above everything else on a slight slope. There was an area that reminded Shizuka of a town square, with a water fountain in the middle. An angel statue in exotic clothing and wielding a staff and sword, water pouring out the staff into the stone pool below. There were several stalls, digimon calling out prices and special deals for various items like food and clothing. The digimon were so human-like, you would have thought them to be humans if not for their appearances. Some were chatting to each other, exchanging juicy gossip it seemed from their giggles and smiles, and other smaller digimon were running and jumping around, a digimon version of tag. However, if you would have taken the time to look closer, you would see that the buildings were slightly different to human ones. The houses were different shapes and sizes, some huge while others tiny and the paths that were coming from were of equal size. The most noticeable feature, however, was that they were all made of gold. At least, it looked like gold to Shizuka. It glowed in the sunlight, not too much that they were blinding but not too little that it wasn't there at all. The castle glowed the brightest, shining like a beacon of hope and light, while digimon of various types walked around and got on with their business. Lunamon and Shizuka stood before a stone archway, patterns and symbols decorating its surface. With a deep breath, she and Lunamon stepped inside the great city. The effect was immediate. The digimon nearest to them stopped what they were doing at started at them.

"Ignore them," Lunamon hissed. "We need to get to the castle to talk to Darcmon," Shizuka didn't know who Darcmon was but nodded anyway and continued walking forward towards the castle. The digimon were to whisper and point at them amongst themselves. Some were still staring and others starting to bow and do other kinds of actions and gestures which unnerved Shizuka more than the evil digimon Lunamon went on about. After five minutes of walking and staring, they reached the castle. It big gold-gilded doors seemed to loom over them, intimidatingly, as if saying 'There's no turning back'. Shizuka walked up to it and knocked, knowing everything was about to change.

* * *

><p>Manabu was feeling many things when Minori was abducted. Anger, irritation, pity. Though, he didn't expect them to be stronger than Katashi's. They were friends after all. He couldn't even start thinking about how he was feeling right now. He glanced in his direction. Katashi was sitting on the ground, to the right of the forcefield. His hazel eyes staring at the floor beneath him. He didn't seem to notice anything around him. Manabu doubted that even if a digimon hit him in the face, he wouldn't feel it. Ryuu was pacing up and down, glancing thoughtfully at Katashi every now and then. After a while, Manabu decided to inspect the forcefield again. The doorway was made of some kind of black metal, not one found on Earth. On the left corner, there was a square sized hole with wires poking out. Manabu had found the hatch earlier, before Ryuu was thrown in with them, and had altered the settings to 'Non-Harmful Mode' as he called it. Simply swapping the red and green wires did the trick. Thankfully, the hatch was out of view from the outside, accidently or on purpose, he didn't know. Manabu wasn't sure whether or not to try changing the wires again. If he did, it might make it harder for them to escape.<p>

"What are we going to do then?" Ryuu said firmly from behind him, breaking the sad silence. At first, Manabu wasn't sure who he was talking to, him or Katashi. Seconds of nothingness confirmed it.

"Escape?" Manabu suggested. He couldn't see Ryuu so he didn't know what he feeling, so he could only judge from his voice.

"That's priority number one," he replied. "But we need to sort out priority number two first," His voice had a slight edge in it. He was irritated. It was obvious why since Manabu was as well for the same reasons. He also decided it would be a good time to get up and help Ryuu. He doubted he was going to succeed on his own. Ryuu was already standing next to Katashi by the time he got up and turned around. Katashi was still staring at the floor.

"You need to snap out of it!" Ryuu exclaimed. "How are you going to get Minori back like this?" Nothing, no life in his eyes.

"Aren't you both friends? You can't leave her and she can't leave you!" Still nothing.

"I've lost someone as well. Don't think you the only one who's hurting!" Finally! Light entered his eyes and he blinked as if he was only just waking up. He stared at Ryuu blankly while Ryuu smiled brightly at him.

"Well, number two is done," Ryuu said. He turned to face Manabu. "Time for number one," Manabu nodded and knelt next to the hatch. There were a five different coloured wires, red, green, blue, white and black. Red was in slot 1, green in 2, blue in 3, white in 4 and black in 5. He had already swapped red and green. There was nothing to go on, no clues, no information. It was all down to trial and error. Problem was you didn't know what the results would be. One mistake could electrocute everyone in the room. Ryuu knew the risks, he saw the way he looked at the hatch with the multicoloured wires sticking out. He had to make sure though.

"Are you sure I should do this?" Manabu asked hesitantly. He waited for an answer and it came for someone he didn't expect.

"Yes," Katashi said, apparently back to normal. Manabu knew better. It took more than words to get over grief like that. At least, it took him ages, after what his Mum did. Again and again. However, he decided to proceed. _Think_, he told himself, _think! _They must have been something that he missed. Something important yet small. _The forest. Stone tablet. Evil digimon. Cell. Prison. Warriors._ Then he remembered. The word that was lying at the back of his brain. The word that he had heard the evil digimon say and had forgotten. Peacekeepers._ No! Surely it isn't that simple. Is it? _Manabu looked at the wires and made his final decision. He pulled the white and black wires out and swapped them. Manabu glanced up at the forcefield, seeing if it would work. The sound of breaking glass fills the bare cell and echoes off the walls. The pale blue forcefield showed itself before it disappeared.

"It actually worked...," Manabu said in surprise. He stood up slowly, starting at the doorway where the forcefield used to be. Who knew that reading loads of books and watching movies helped in real life? He, at least, expected to get a small electric shock - not for it to work in the first go. Ryuu stepped forward, patting him on the back.

"Well done," he said. "Time to get out of here," They all walked through the doorway when they saw the chaos. The digimon from their cells had escaped. The Goblinmon were trying to restrain them, knocking out as many as they could with their clubs. It would have worked, if their were humans, but they weren't. The bigger digimon, the dragons, the birds and the bugs, simply hit the clubs away as if they were an annoying pest. The little digimon panicked. They shot out fireballs, stingers and all sorts of attacks, they hit Goblinmon, other digimon and the walls and ceilings. Walls collapsed on themselves, bigger digimon joined in with the attacks and Goblinmon started to dissolve each time an attack hit them. Several big digimon looked in their direction. Their confusion quickly changed to anger. Manabu hadn't opened just their cell, he had opened all of them. Then the digimon charged at them.


	6. Chapter 6: Leader of Light

**I tried to make this chapter longer than usual so I may have made some mistakes or that it just isn't good. Due to school work and tests, I can no longer update this fic every month. Though, I will try to upload it when I have enough time to do so. Also, the digimon you see in the first part isn't as big as the one in Digimon Xros Wars so don't get confused by the way the battle turns out.**

**EmpireC2: I'm glad you like it. I have had at look at yours as well and I think its way more awesome than mine :)**

**Digimon: Shadowed Pains**

**Chapter 5: Leader of Light**

_She was then pushed into the sunlight, away from the others with Coronamon's whisper still lingering in her ears._

_After five minutes of walking and staring, they reached the castle. It big gold-gilded doors seemed to loom over them, intimidatingly, as if saying 'There's no turning back'. Shizuka walked up to it and knocked, knowing everything was about to change._

_They all walked through the doorway when they saw the chaos. The digimon from their cells had escaped. The Goblinmon were trying to restrain them, knocking out as many as they could with their clubs. It would have worked, if their were humans, but they weren't. The bigger digimon, the dragons, the birds and the bugs, simply hit the clubs away as if they were an annoying pest. The little digimon panicked. They shot out fireballs, stingers and all sorts of attacks, they hit Goblinmon, other digimon and the walls and ceilings. Walls collapsed on themselves, bigger digimon joined in with the attacks and Goblinmon started to dissolve each time an attack hit them. Several big digimon looked in their direction. Their confusion quickly changed to anger. Manabu hadn't opened just their cell, he had opened all of them. Then the digimon charged at them._

The first thing Minori noticed when she was pushed outside was the noise. It was so loud, like someone playing guitar on a huge amplifier. Was it singing? Shouting? Then it became terrifying clear as light that had blinded her eyes passed away. She was in a circle shaped area made of dark metal with tall metal walls standing high. At the opposite side, there was a doorway, identical to the one she had passed through. A white throne was placed above it with a digimon. Similar to Goblinmon but not quite the same. Her eyes widened as she slowly moved her gaze upwards slightly, towards the source of the noise. The edges of the walls curved inwards, turning into something hazy, a forcefield she realized, with hundreds of cheering digimon behind it. They were in different sections, one section for each type she guessed. A lot of them were standing up, clapping and yelling as loud as they could. There was something wrong. Minori could feel it in her gut, demanding to get out. But - before she could react - she was firmly pushed forwards, tripping over her own feet. The crowd laughed, as if they had seen a funny slapstick and Minori slowly got back up, preserving what pride she had left. However, Goblinmon put one hand back on her shoulder while the other pushed something into her palm. She looked at it then blinked in disbelief. It was that device thing that she and Shizuka had. How was this meant to help and why was she given it back in the first place? She glanced back and Goblinmon gave her a grim smile, pulling down a lever on the wall. She didn't like that one bit. It got even worse when bars fell down, blocking her from the cells and Goblinmon. Great, just great. What other horrible stuff is going to happen next? Her question was answered when the digimon in the throne stood up. The other digimon immediately stopped all movement.

"Welcome, my dear guests and wild ones," it announced loudly. "I know you have all been waiting for this moment and here it is!" It spread its arms wide to the sky.

"Finally, I have obtained one of the humans of prophecy, a PeaceKeeper!" It moved its arms again, triumphantly.

Minori stared, wide eyed, a whisper escaping from her lips. "PeaceKeeper?"

"Digidestined," Lalamon muttered. Minori glanced at her. She had completely forgotten that she was even there. Why should she anyway? She was just a monster or something. She didn't want to be here, let alone have a strange flying flower as a partner.

"Now, here is the opponent. The cold hearted, Daipenmon!" The crowd burst in cheers again as the barred doorway at the other side opened and revealed a giant purple penguin with a pink and blue icelolly with a white device on its head. He didn't look threatening at all, at least until he smacked both icelollies into the wall beside it, shaking the ground.

"Begin!" the digimon in throne yelled. At this moment, Minori was still confused. What does it all mean? What is this place? Suddenly, memories burst open in her head. Memories about a trip with her family. A trip to Italy. She took a sharp breath. _So that's what this place is,_ she thought. _It's a Colosseum._ She quickly tensed as she felt the air grow cold. She felt something whiz past her left ear and collide with the wall with a loud bang. Minori risked a glance and saw it was a pink icelolly, deeply emebed into the wall. Lalamon quickly shouted out a warning and Minori jumped out the way of an angry charging Daipenmon. However, just as he was going to run into the wall, he pulled the pink icelolly out and changed course with great speed. Before Minori could react, Lalamon raced towards him.

"**Seed Shot!**"

Lalamon opened her mouth and started shooting out seeds at Daipenmon as hard as she could. The seeds bounced off harmlessly and Daipenmon continued forward. The gap between him and Lalamon was getting smaller and smaller. Then he was next to her. Lalamon tried to move away but she was too slow.

"**Blue Hawaii Death!**"

Daipenmon swung its blue icelolly and it hit Lalamon. She cried out in pain and was flung into the air. The crowd yelled out a 'oooh' as she lay groaning on the ground. Minori stared at Daipenmon, panic washing over her like a black wave. The digimon was walking casually towards her, icelollies poised and ready to strike. Minori forced back the wave and glared at Daipenmon, annoyed. They all ended up like this. At first, they are scared and nervous. But, as they win, more and more, they get confident and cocky. They end up thinking they can never be beaten so they take their time. Enjoying the battles but not the wins themselves. Minori smiled. That gave her some time at least. Her eyes scanned the arena, looking for any weapon or exit. There was none. Only the metal walls and floor. Although, she could try to break the walls but she had no idea how strong they were. She had to try the battle plan then. A shadow loomed over her. She glanced up and Daipenmon was standing there. Minori smiled sweetly at him and he snarled angrily. The icelollies flew downwards.

"**Lala Spiral!**"

A great gust of wind came at Minori's side, lifting her into the air. She turned and twisted for what seemed to be hours and then she fell onto the cold floor. She moved her head and saw Daipenmon standing a few feet away with Lalamon standing to its right, her body decorated with scratches. Lalamon gave her a feeble smirk as if to say: _Who needs saving now? _Minori glared but it was wiped off her face when Daipenmon snarled and hit the digimon with its pink icelolly. Lalamon yelled out as Daipenmon hit her, again and again. Minori felt feelings she hadn't felt in years, flow though her. She stood up and readied her legs and arms. Then she hesitated and washed them away. _I shouldn't be feeling pity anyway,_ she thought. She kept the anger though. Minori took a deep breath and sprinted towards Daipenmon. When she was close to him, she leapt onto his back, wrapping her legs around his arms and grabbing hold of the device on his head. Daipenmon immediately moved his icelollies to knock her off but she firmly kicked his wrists and they fell to the floor. He tried shaking her off by quickly moving around. Minori retaliated byaltering her weight and she began rocking back and forth. Daipenmon's body swayed forward and in a last desperate attempt, he tried to take the icelollies from off the floor.

"**Lala Spiral!**"

The wind lifted them in the air and they flew into the wall, far from reach. Daipenmon's body became slack - a warrior who admits defeat - and he fell onto his own face. Minori watched carefully but the digimon moved no further, his eyes staying closed. Minori clambered off his back, gave Lalamon a smirk, and waved to the shocked crowd. _If they want me to fight,_ she thought, _might as well give them some entertainment._ The digimon in throne stood up shakily, as if it couldn't believe what had happened. It quickly gained its composure as the crowd turned their gazes upon it.

"The winner is the PeaceKeeper!" it said, as if that had been the plan all along. The crowd clapped and cheered half-heartily. Minori ignored them and concentrated on a different noise. At first, she thought it was the crowd but it got louder and more inconsistent. It looked like everyone had noticed too, looking around in puzzlement. The noise became more chaotic and vibrations shook the ground. Screams and shouts echoed from inside. Everyone was starting to panic now. Quickly getting up and dashing to the nearest exits.

"Everyone, don't panic! There is nothing to be afraid of!" the digimon in the throne said, trying and failing at calming them down. Everyone was fighting everyone to get out and away. Minori took a chance and looked around. Daipenmon was lying on the floor, the crowd was rioting and the noises behind her were getting steadily louder. There was no way out, at least at the moment. She walked over to the passage and gazed past the bars. She could see movement, loads of movement. She took a sharp breath when she saw something crash into a wall and stayed there unmoving. Similar things were happening, digimon attacking digimon. Two riots. Both wanting to get out. A dark thought formed. _What about the others? Is Katashi okay?_

"Get away!" An anguished cry. Lalamon's. The cry came far too late as the passage exploded, sharp pieces of metal flying everywhere. Minori got flung backwards, landing painfully on her back. She tried to get up but a sharp pain in her back made her fall back down, wincing. A familiar figure stepped above her. Lalamon was looking at her intently, as if Minori might run away any second. Minori gave her a reassuring smile and Lalamon finally broke away from her gaze. Minori's smile turned into a frown. _What do I just do that? She's a monster! _She looked at Lalamon whom was observing everything that was going on like a solider calculating many strategies at once. _Then why did I think that she was a real person?_

* * *

><p>Shizuka didn't know what was going happen when she knocked on the doors. She stood uneasily, her eyes flickering form side to side. Lunamon silently stared at the doors. Eventually, they opened wide, footsteps and whispers echoing from inside. They stepped inside and Shizuka gasped. There were in a long corridor, the floors and walls shinning white. There were four archways made of gold, two on each side, with clear white crystals embedded in them. A bigger archway was at the end of the corridor. Instead of white crystals, it had one big crystal in the middle. It's colour seemed to change when Shizuka moved her head. Along the walls, there were various glass cabinets. Shizuka's eyes widened as she walked up to one and looked inside. It took her a few seconds to realize what it was. It was a keyboard. A very old keyboard, at least ten years old. Shizuka glanced at the others. Radios, TVs, Mobiles and other old electronics. <em>What is this? <em>she thought.

"Shizuka," Lunamon said quietly. Shizuka turned and saw Lunamon pointing towards the large archway with one hand. Before Shizuka could speak, the digimon walked towards it. Shizuka stared at her in disbelief. How could she walk away like that? To someone who she hasn't seen before? A complete stranger.

"Wait!" Shizuka called to her with an out-stretched hand but Lunamon kept walking. Now that Shizuka was here, she wasn't sure if talking to Darcmon was a good idea anymore. Those digimon outside and the way they stared at them. Some gave warm smiles and cheers while others avoided their gaze as if in guilt. That gave Shizuka a very bad feeling.

"Are you sure it's okay to trust Darcmon?" she asked. Lunamon stopped. Slowly, she turned her body to face her. Her eyes glared hotly at her.

"If you can't trust her, trust me instead," she replied, her voice firm and strong. Shizuka blinked in surprise. That was really similar to what Ryuu told her, long ago. Her mind absently wandered back before she could stop herself.

_Tears fell down my angry flushed face. How could Mother say something like that? She wasn't there when it happened! She didn't see it! Father didn't either! Then why...?_

_"What's wrong?" a familiar voice asks. I look up and into my brother's concerned face. Just seeing him like that made my tears fall down harder. I stare at the floor, unable to match his gaze. I feel his hand on my shoulder._

_"Tell me what happened," he says, his usual cheerful self gone. I try to hold it in but the walls break and everything flows out._

_"I told Mother and Father," I say between sobs. "They didn't believe me," A new torrent of tears come rushing down. Ryuu continues looking at me, his face motionless._

_"Do they not trust me to tell the truth?" I say in anguish. "If so, how can I trust them anymore?"_

_"Shizuka, look at me," he says simply. I hesitate and slowly look at him. A warm smile decorates his face and his hand on my shoulder warms my entire body._

_"If you can't trust them, trust me in their place,"_

"Are you alright?" Lunamon voice asked, shattering the memory. Shizuka thought for a few seconds and then nodded.

"I will trust you," she decided."We are partners after all," Lunamon's eyes shone and she smiled a broad smile.

"First, we need to go in the throne room for an audience," she said with enthusiasm and the digimon walked through the doorway. Shizuka followed her without hesitation. As they passed by, the crystal glowed, causing the air to shimmer behind them. Shizuka pressed her hand against the empty air and she felt something solid and warm under her palm. There was definitely something there but she couldn't see anything, just air and space.

"Is this a Seal?" she asked in wonder, exploring the surface with both hands.

Lunamon shook her head. "Its a forcefield," she explained. Her voice seemed different. Was it higher than normal? Shizuka turned to her. Lunamon seemed to be shaking hard, as if she was going to see something amazing or frighting. Her ears twitched

"Are you alright?" Shizuka said.

"Yes," she replied, her voice shaking. Shizuka stared at her. She didn't look fine at all. She could hardly control herself.

She nodded. "Lets go then," Lunamon quickly went in front, walking in a fast pace. Shizuka simply walked casually. _I just have to trust her, _she told herself firmly. _She knows more about all this than I do. _Before she knew it, they had entered the throne room. It was considerably smaller than the hallway and the walls and floors were same. Hung from the ceiling were six large banners, white, red, blue, green, purple and pink. They all had different symbols on them which seemed to be normal and strange at the same time. At the back wall, there was the throne, made of gold and covered in crystals. The digimon sitting in it was more interesting than the whole city and castle combined. She looked exactly like the stone statue in the fountain. She listening intently at two digimon who were arguing, their shouts getting louder and louder. After a while, she stood up from her throne - her golden wings stretched out and her face stayed neutral. She radiated a calm and soothing aura which made Shizuka's heart slow down to a relaxing beat.

The digimon stopped and stared at her. She said something to them and the digimon still started at her, transfixed. After a few more words and a smile, they vigorously nodded and ran past Shizuka and Lunamon without looking back. It was then that Darcmon glanced in their direction and an involuntary smile flashed across her face. She quickly smothered it and sat back down on her throne. Lunamon immediately walked towards her, as if it was an invitation and Shiuzka followed. When they were near her throne, Lunamon knelt down. Shizuka was wondering whether she should too when Darcmon started to speak.

"My child, how long it has been since I saw you last," she said gently. Her voice was soft, like marshmallows, but there was an edge of authority mixed in. Lunamon looked at the floor, tears threatening to escape from her eyes. Darcmon turned her gaze towards Shizuka with her clear eyes.

"I'm glad that you have finally come, digidestined," _She knows,_ she thought frantically. Questions and emotions swirled around her head.

"Tell me, why am I here?" Shizuka asked, her voice near breaking. Darcmon gave her a grim look. _Please, not that again,_ Shizuka thought._ I've already seen that hundreds of times and it's never good._

"Please, allow me to apologize for what I have done," Darcmon said sadly and she bent her head down, her wings folded behind her. Shizuka stared blankly at her. The words repeated themselves in her ears, whispering and poking at the edges of her brain. Lunamon's body darted upwards sharply and she stood on her feet. Her tears fell on the floor, slowly flowing towards the throne as if to show their sadness to the digimon.

"No! You don't need to apologize! I knew the risks!" Lunamon cried out. Darcmon lifted her head and gazed loving at Lunamon.

"You do know them but what about your partner?" she pointed out. Lunamon glanced at Shizuka and her ears twitched nervously. Shizuka shot her a puzzled look but Lunamon turned sharply away. Darcmon smiled sadly at them, as if deciding what flowers to put on their graves.

"It is due time to explain what your duty is but I can only do that when all digidestined are assembled," the digimon continued.

"We don't know where they are," Shizuka muttered. "If we did, I would be there right now,"

"My scouts have already located them and I'm sending a portion of my forces to bring them here," Shizuka's face lit up with hope and determination.

"I'm going too," she said firmly. Lunamon gave her a warning look but she ignored it.

Darcmon frowned. "You cannot go. You must be kept safe here,"

Shizuka glared angrily at her. "You don't understand. I have to go!" She wasn't going to let anyone stop her from finding Ryuu. No one. Darcmon's face showed surprise and...was that fear? She washed her face clean and stood up, her head looking downwards at the duo and her eyes filled with fire. Shizuka and Lunamon looked at her nervously.

"I will say this only one more time," she said, her soft voice getting louder with every word. "You cannot and will not go," Shizuka hesitated and glared at her with equal force. Lunamon stayed silent, watching the rally of words with slowly growing excitement.

"I will go," she said defiantly."Nothing will stop from me finding Ryuu," Darcmon observed them intently for a few seconds and sighed in resignation. Her fake angry face changed into pity and she sat wearily back onto her throne, her eyes cloudy and sad.

"It seems your resolve is stronger than I had anticipated," she muttered quietly. The digimon turned to the pair, her eyes clear again. "I allow you to go but you have to go with an escort," Before they could argue, Darcmon drew out her staff and tapped it against the right side of her throne. The sound of metal against metal faded and turned into the sound of flapping wings. A small white bird flew soundlessly above Shizuka's head and landed to her right. As she watched with wide eyes, the bird started to glow and change shape. It grew bigger and more wide until it became a woman. At least, Shizuka thought it looked like a woman. Her blonde hair was tightly twirled around itself with white ribbons holding them together. She wore a white dress, white as snow, which started at her chest and ended in a pile of the floor. On her feet were white boots that looked like metal with a little wing on their heels and short white gloves. Shizuka blinked in surprise when she saw her face. Her eyes were covered in what looked like to bandages. Despite that, she had a smile on her face and was looking right at her as if the bandages weren't even there. Her arms were stretched out and in her hands was the white bird and a shell? She was perfect in every way and with every word spoken Shizuka felt herself drawn toward her. All she wanted to was go to her and then everything would be alright. She would escape from this place, she would find Ryuu... She blinked several times and woke from her trance. She quickly turned her attention to the conversation.

Darcmon nodded. "Yes, Venusmon. You are to escort this Digidestined and Lunamon to the location the scouts identified to us," Venusmon turned her head in their direction and sharply moved it back.

"I understand, my lady," she responded. She straightened herself and hesitated, turning back to Darcmon.

"May I use the portable transporter? I have enough energy to spare," Darcmon stayed silent for a second and then nodded. She reached her hand outwards towards Shizuka. She stared at in puzzlement.

"Please give me your digivice. It is needed for the portable transporter," she asked, her hand hanging still in the air. Shizuka's hand instinctively moved to her pocket where the device lay.

"What are you going to do?" she replied, feeling foolish for asking. It was just a lifeless object. Compared to Ryuu, it was nothing at all. Then why did she feel she shouldn't let it out her sight? Why did it feel so special and important?

"I will show you, once you give it to me," Shizuka didn't like that answer at all. She hesitated, her gaze slowly drifting to her pocket. A sharp tug on her leg made her turn. Lunamon was looking at her with a small smile. It was a smile that said 'trust'. Shizuka gave her an understanding look and Lunamon nodded happily. Venusmon's head was in their direction, somehow watching the exchange. Darcmon still her hand out, patiently waiting for the result. After a pause, Shizuka pulled it out her pocket and placed in Darcmon's palm. The air turned cold and a dark chill crawled up Shizuka's back. Darcmon's hand flinched and the digivice nearly fell from her hand. Venusmon stayed still and silent, her bird and the shell creature trembling. Shizuka and Lunamon looked at them in concern and confusion.

"What's wrong?" Lunamon finally asked. Darcmon stared fearfully at the device and clenched it tightly in her hand. The digivice sounded out three loud beeps and turned lifeless again.

"It is ready," she said simply and she passed the device over to Venusmon who accepted it and held it like glass. Shizuka's feelings of confusion melted away to anger and irritation.

"But wha-," she started but Darcmon merely waved her hand to silence her.

"Like I mentioned earlier, I will only explain your roles when all the Peacekeepers arrive here," Shizuka glared at her angrily. She had no right to do that. None at all.

"Come, Peacekeeper. We must get going," Venusmon said gently. Shizuka reluctantly moved her head away and stood up along with Lunamon. Venusmon walked gracefully to the archway with Shizuka and Lunamon following in slow steps. She risked a glance backwards but Darcmon was no longer there.

"What's wrong, Peacekeeper?" Venusmon asked. Shizuka quickly turned around.

"Nothing," she muttered. "But call me Shizuka, not Peacekeeper," Venusmon's head continued to face her and a broad smile grew on her face.

"Okay, Shizuka. It's time to rescue your friends,"

* * *

><p><strong>The ending part was really bad in this one but don't worry, the boys are going to have some spotlight too in the next chapter.<strong>


	7. UPDATE

UPDATE!

Before you say anything, this story isn't dead or anything. It's just I've had little freetime because of my upcoming exams and writer's block. :S

Therefore, after my summer exams, I will be re-writing all the chapters before writing any new ones so I can improve the dialogue, add more detail and flesh out the characters a bit more. For the most part, there won't be many major changes and the plot will stay the same but there is one big change I'm going to make. Minori's partner is going to be changed to a different digimon. That is because when I started writing this, I hadn't seen Digimon Savers yet and in this story I want the digimon to be different from the ones in the shows.

Chapters that have been re-written will have an asterisk next to it (*****) and they will have a small summary about what I have changed, either at the top of the bottom of the chapter. If you guys have any specific scenes or sections of a chapter you really want me to change, R&R. :)

Also, this story won't be finished until said so by me, so don't worry if it isn't updated for a while.


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